FlipFall
Game Summary
FlipFall is a procedurally generated 2D action platformer made in Unity for the 2022 Global Game Jam. To fit with the theme of "Duality," FlipFall centers around a mechanic
where you switch between light and dark mode to change the way you interact with platforms and enemies. Another way this game fit the theme of duality was
in the two main parts of the game: the falling secion, and the climbing section. In the falling section, the player must dodge by changing their form to phase
through the platforms, and reach the bottom. Once there, the player obtains a weapon with which they can fight the newly spawned enemies, and they must use the
obstacles they were previously dodging as platforms. Once you reach the top, the game ends!
My Roles and Contributions
For this game, I worked on design and programming.
I created the concept for this game, and built a team around creating this thing in 48 hours. Upon hearing the theme, the first game I thought of was Ikaruga, with it's
light and dark switching to dodge/absorb bullets, and I began to think of how it could be applied in other way. By nature of this being a game jam game, many other people
contributed to design as well, for the sake of scope. I also created the largest portion of the platforming sections that were used in the procedural generation.
For programming, my primary responsibility was player movement and the light/dark mechanic, and the interactions that were involved with that. I also took on scripts
regarding the game state. This included death, switching between falling mode/climbing mode, and victory. I also assisted with the last-minute bug fixing, along with all
the other programmers.
Production and Challenges
As with every jam, scope is always a focal point of production. I quickly became attached to this concept and wanted to build a team around it specifically because I
was almost certain we could execute this with time to spare. By about 1:30 AM on the second day, we successfully created a fully playable game, leaving us plenty of time
to add in things like menu, better animations, better backgrounds and UI, and other polish related things. I'm extremely happy with how this game came out.
The biggest challeng for me was managing stress during this experience. Not only was I in a leadership role within our group, being eBoard for the Northeastern Game Development
club I was also one of the organizer for Boston's Global Game Jam site. The weekend was very hectic for me, as I had to constantly be checking on progress in our group, checking on
the Global Game Jam discord server, preparing for closing ceremonies, and working on the things I was supposed to be working on. Overall though, everything came out pretty much
exactly as well as I'd hoped, both in terms of the game and the event!
Links
itch.io Link
Global Game Jam site Link
